It took a long time before I realized what bad shape the dating landscape of the United States is in, but one day I found myself scouring the internet for answers, and I happened upon a few websites and blogs that shed some light on the situation.

Many of those sites were home to ranters and ravers and zealots going on about this and that...some of the information was good, some was not. When I finally found this site, where everything I was feeling was so well elucidated and free from all the extraneous BS that some of the other sites harbored, it made me feel much stronger in my position that all was not well in this society, and I finally received affirmation that I was not "crazy" to feel this way.

So I just wanted to introduce myself and finally contribute a little bit instead of simply reading the articles and forum posts here. I'd also like to thank Winston and all of you who speak so freely about things that most people do not want to hear.

The dating scene in America: 500 men are fishing in an eroded little pond. There are 20 fish in the water. 10 of those fish have already been caught and released back in. The other 10 are dead.

Hello Aware, we are glad you became aware of our forum! I too am glad Winston started this forum so like minded people could exchange ideas and speak freely about the dating scene in the US and other things. What part of the country are you from? Have you traveled to any other countries yet?

By the way, I love the signature sentence you have at the bottom of your post, "The dating scene in America: 500 men are fishing in an eroded little pond. There are 20 fish in the water. 10 of those fish have already been caught and released back in. The other 10 are dead."

Glad you liked my sig...it came to me one dark and gloomy night when I was contemplating the pathetic state of the situation here!

So, I am from Seattle...I lived in a few cities on the west coast, been to many places in the U.S., but have never traveled to another country with the exception of Canada. Needless to say, I am itching to get out of here!

Unfortunately for me, I have come to understand that Seattle may be one of the worst cities in the U.S. as far as the "ice barriers" go. Of course most of us on this website agree that women across America are cold and unapproachable, but I have a feeling that it is even worse in Seattle. All the more reason to go abroad for me, I suppose.

The dating scene in America: 500 men are fishing in an eroded little pond. There are 20 fish in the water. 10 of those fish have already been caught and released back in. The other 10 are dead.

You are right. Seattle is one of the worst places. For a guy to have desires there is considered a sin. The vibe there tells you "You are not allowed to have desires". It's totally ridiculous. So to fit in, you gotta pretend that you have no desires and that you are satisfied with giving strangers fake passing smiles, which is the usual limit of your social contact without a clique. Totally bogus huh?

People act so distant, and if you aren't distant too, then you're abnormal. It's like the Twilight Zone where everything is upside down.

Globetrotter, a member of this forum, put it best about Seattle when he told me over the phone, "In Seattle, it's ok to talk to a woman about sailing if you both enjoy sailing, but if you invite her sailing or suggest you do it together, then you've crossed the line."

So true huh?

Have you seen the video about the Seattle Freeze that I posted before?

I certainly attribute much of my "awareness" to all the golden nuggets of information on your site. I love puns!

I've not seen that video before, but it is a good one and basically sums up the deal with Seattle. One woman on the video suggests that the weather here contributes to the stand-offish culture, but I don't agree with her. It's easy to blame the weather, but really there are other parts of the world with similar (if not harsher) climates and I'm sure some of those places are not affected by this phenomenon called "The Seattle Freeze".

I think Seattle is sort of a "new" big city. It has grown exponentially in the past few decades...whereas other big cities have been urban hot spots for a long time, Seattle has not, and so it has really grown up in contemporary culture, been stewed in it, and I believe that's why it exhibits more of this negativity than other places in the US. It's like a child that grew up in the 90's as opposed to the 60's or 70's -- it is more heavily affected by the reality television, popular bullshit culture than older big cities.

Anyway, that's just a theory

But yes, women here are unbelievably cold. You'd think that they were royalty or something. Any interaction you have with them in the city is really just a fake cordiality. They are "nice", but they are not WARM. Globetrotter is 100% correct...don't even think about asking a woman to do anything, if you do, she might think you're a psychopath.

I look forward to getting out of this place and meeting some genuine, warm people!

The dating scene in America: 500 men are fishing in an eroded little pond. There are 20 fish in the water. 10 of those fish have already been caught and released back in. The other 10 are dead.

The worst thing about Seattle is that even though what you said is true, you aren't allowed to mention it or "call a spade a spade". Instead, you gotta pretend that everything is great and that everyone is wonderful and friendly and if you're lonely then you must be a loser. Thus truth is a taboo in Seattle. You aren't allowed to complain about anything except the weather. Other than the weather, everything is supposed to be "wonderful", or at least you must say that it is. lol. Sucks huh?